Essay about Graduation Speech

When I was younger, I would often return home to a familiar question: So, what did you learn today? My answer would always be "nothing" or "stuff." As I look back, I never lied, yet, I never told the whole truth. Many people think that you don't know anything with only 18 years of experience; I think they're wrong. I've learned a lot about myself and others from the relationships I have built throughout the years. I believe my most important lessons were "people" lessons. Those are the ones which could never be taught out of a book or in a lecture; you have to go out and experience them for yourself.

WOW! So much has happened since June. The SV FFA and ag department had a rough start to our year losing three of our students who were on the FFA officer team to other schools. Even with this bump in the road, the four officers that remained visited Mt. Shasta City and had a blast bonding and learning more about each other at their officer retreat in August. Once school started we found three new officers and attended COLC (Chapter Officer Leadership Conference) where the entire team learned about their diverse leadership styles and were able to bond together as the official Surprise Valley FFA Chapter Officer Team for the 2017-2018 school year. If you see them around, congratulate President Cindy Hinze, V.P. Maddison Seely, Secretary Maya

Students, faculty, family, friends, on this exciting day, I speak to optimism, laughter, and grins.

The first day of kindergarten, we clung to our parents afraid of the new experiences that awaited us. We looked around at all of the other faces not sure what to think. Fear and doubt crippled us. Little did we know that this day was the beginning of a journey stock full of obstacles and rewards.

Well, this is it, the day all of us have been waiting for has finally arrived. It seems like only yesterday we were picking our noses and flicking them at innocent bystanders or yelling childish phrases like, "Liar, liar, pants on fire!" or, wait, that was yesterday. Never mind. Anyways.

“Drum majors, Jeremiah Wooten and Scott Smith, is your Corps ready?”, booms the announcer’s thunderous voice as our show starts. Our head drum major, Jeremiah, turns to the crowd and performs his salute initiating the true beginning of our show. I’m standing on the forty yard line of Ames Field in Michigan City, Indiana when I truly feel that I am performing my show in championship competition. Many veteran members told us rookies that the this competition will likely never be my best performance, and I intend on proving them wrong. Our show progresses, and I focus on being the best I can be every second this the show. An instant passes and we are now eight minutes into our eleven and a half minute show, and my body begins to develop

The old poet Kahlil Gibran, a long time ago, once said, "You work that you may keep pace with the soul of the earth. For to be idle is to become a stranger unto the seasons, and to step out of life's procession, that marches in majesty and proud submission toward the infinite." An interesting thought, that we work in order to keep pace with the earth. Now, I'm sure you're asking yourself, how can my near minimum wage job, where the customers treat me like a doormat and I still have to be pleasant and chipper, keep me in sync with the soul of the earth. Well I imagine there are higher rewards to part-time high school jobs, but other than the always too small pay checks, I am hard pressed to fathom them. Yet, that is not the kind of work I

Well, this is it. Our last night. The last page of the scrapbook we call high school. Our scrapbooks are filled with memories from the first day we walked into these halls ... to this very night. Pictures crammed in, ticket stubs nestled between them, adorned by dried corsages and newspaper clippings, yellowed with every fond recollection.

A couple weeks ago, I was attempting to clean my room when I unearthed an old yearbook from my days in middle school. Rather absentmindedly I opened the book to browse through it. However, before long I became immersed in the memories brought back to life and quickly lost track of time. Over an hour later, I set the book aside and marveled at how much had changed since then. Not only had people changed physically, but they had also changed their friends, habits and behaviors. Furthermore, we have all grown as a result of the changing world around us, a changing world that has witnessed the tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001, as well as the constant birth of new technologies which make our lives easier. These changes have shaped

I want to thank my family for giving me the opportunity to receive a private education and for encouraging me to always do my best. Thank you to my friends and their parents who have loved me and believed in me. Most of all, I want to say thanks to God for giving me the gifts He has and for loving me unconditionally; for without Him, I am nothing.

Christopher Columbus, reflecting on his voyage which led him to the discovery of America, said, "Following the light of the sun, we left the Old World." I am sure that after four years of high school, we have all formed our own opinion of Christopher Columbus - especially if you had Mrs. Powers - but whether you view him as a genocidal rogue or the first American Hero, I find his quote fitting for where we stand today.

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. On behalf of the 2012 graduating class of County High School, I would like to welcome you to our commencement ceremony. As valedictorian of this class I would like to speak to you, and my fellow graduates about responsibility, but first I would like to tell you a little story

Depending on who you talk to, you get different opinions on what subject that you’ve studied in high school will help you most out in the real world. Ms. Bow tried to tell you it’s being able to diagram sentences and understand Shakespeare. Mr. Roberts, on the other hand, has a picture of a toppling bridge that says "Engineer missed just one Trig assignment." If you’ve spent a lot of time staring at Mr. Groon's podium during lectures, you’ve read that "He who knows only his own generation remains always a child." But what does this all mean, how do we truly apply everything we’ve learned in the past four years to the rest of our life, and what really is the most important thing to take away with us from high school? Well, I’ll tell you my

We wrap up the last full week of October, thrilled about this week's highlights! If you haven't heard, our school nurse Caren Etling and our educational technology specialist, Mike McQueen were both recipients of educational grants from the Clayton Education Foundation. With congratulations to them both, submitting creative and innovative proposals which benefit our school as a community, we are even more excited about the start of the work they will be pursuing. Caren Etling will now be able to expand the work of our Garden Club, continuing her partnership and support of Tom Sprengnether and science by ensuring all students have an opportunity to actively engage in gardening. Soon, Meramec will be the recipient of an indoor tower

Years ago there was a traveler who came upon an old-fashioned pump from which he would have to pump the handle in order to retrieve the water. Beside the pump there was a pitcher full of water, and on the pump there was a sign. The sign instructions were to prime the pump with the water in the pitcher, pump the water for use, and then refill the pitcher. The thirsty man looked at the pitcher, the pump and the sign. He thought to himself, "If I pour this water down the pump, and it doesn't work, I will have no water to drink and it will be wasted. But, if I drink the water, I will be satisfied, but the next traveler will have nothing.